Radio Broadcast: Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor
Saturday, November 12, 2011 at Noon on Classical 91.7FM (www.classical917.org) and WFMT Network (WFMT.com)
Approximate Run Time: 2 hours, 35 minutes including 2 intermissions
Sung in Italian
The volatile religious and political conflicts of two ancient Scottish clans fuel the drama of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor. Enrico Ashton (Scott Hendricks) forces his sister Lucia (Albina Shagimuratova) to marry a powerful man despite her love for Edgardo (Dimitri Pittas), the scion of the Ravenswood, whose lands the Ashtons have taken. Drama Desk and Tony Award-winning director John Doyle (Sweeney Todd – Broadway, 2006) and designer Liz Ascroft
create intense drama amid the ever-shifting Scottish landscape in this
new Houston Grand Opera production, while Italian conductor Antonino Fogliani makes his HGO debut.
Albina Shagimuratova, Scott Hendricks, Dimitri Pittas, Antonino
Fogliani, Colin Ure and Anthony Freud discuss HGO's production of
Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor. (YouTube)
A co-production with Opera Australia and Teatro La Fenice, Venice.
Grand Guarantors
The Brown Foundation, Inc.
The Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts
Guarantors
Janice and Tom Barrow
The Humphreys Foundation
Mr. and Mrs. Harlan C. Stai
Grand Underwriters
Anadarko Petroleum Corporation
Edward and Frances Bing Fund
photos by Felix Sanchez
Recorded live at the Wortham Theater Center, Winter 2011
Houston Grand Opera broadcasts its operas nationally via the WFMT Radio Network. In Houston, Classical 91.7FM (www.classical917.org)
airs these programs on Saturday afternoons starting at noon. If you
find yourself outside the Houston area, please check your local radio
listings or visit WFMT.com to find a radio station near you that carries the broadcast.
Houston Grand Opera broadcasts are made possible by major grants from
the Wortham Foundation and from the Ford Foundation Endowment Fund for
Electronic Media, through the Houston Grand Opera Endowment. Recording
for broadcast is made possible through the facilities of Classical
91.7FM; Houston Grand Opera’s Recording Engineer is Marlan Barry.
Programming is at the discretion of member stations and is subject to change.
Act I
A group of guards under their leader Normanno is searching for a prowler
on the grounds of Ravenswood Castle. Lord Enrico Ashton confides to
Normanno and the family chaplain Raimondo that he is in desperate
financial straits. To replenish the family coffers, Enrico intends to
wed his sister Lucia to the wealthy Arturo Bucklaw. Normanno, however,
suspects that Lucia is in love with another man-Edgardo of Ravenswood, a
member of a rival family. When these suspicions are confirmed, Enrico
swears revenge on his sister and her suitor. With her attendant Alisa,
Lucia is waiting for Edgardo near a ruined fountain . Lucia remembers
having once seen the ghost of a woman who was murdered by her lover at
that fountain; Alisa believes this is a bad omen and urges Lucia to give
up her lover. When Edgardo arrives, Alisa discreetly slips away.
Edgardo tells Lucia he must leave for France before dawn an a vital
political mission and has come to say goodbye. First, however, he wants
to make peace with Enrico and ask him for Lucia's hand. Lucia,
frightened, begs Edgardo to keep their love secret. Edgardo bitterly
recounts the reasons for his hatred of the Ashton family, but the two
bid a loving farewell, pledging themselves to each other and exchanging
rings.
Act II
The marriage arranged by Enrico between his sister and Arturo is
imminent, despite Lucia's protests that she loves Edgardo. Enrico has
had all Edgardo's letters to her intercepted by Normanno, who has also
forged one wherein Edgardo tells Lucia that he now loves someone else.
Frantically, Lucia reveals to Enrico that she and Edgardo have already
exchanged vows. Enrico tells Lucia that the government party he
supported has been defeated, and only Arturo can save him from ruin and
even death. Lucia appeals to Raimondo, but he begs her to comply with
Enrico's wishes. The wedding guests congratulate Arturo. Lucia is openly
weeping; Enrico explains her tears by saying that she is still mourning
her mother's death, and he forces her to sign the marriage contract.
Edgardo suddenly arrives. He is outraged at Lucia's apparent betrayal,
but her torment is obvious and he realizes he still loves her. Enrico
and the guests violently turn on Edgardo. Raimondo intervenes and
restores peace, but when Lucia reluctantly admits she has signed the
marriage contract, Edgardo demands his ring back and curses their love.
Intermission
Act III
Immediately after the wedding, Enrico visits Edgardo at Wolf Crag Castle
to taunt him with the news that Lucia has been led to her bridal
chamber. Edgardo swears to avenge the insult to his family and
challenges Enrico to a duel at daybreak among the tombs of Ravenswood.
At Ravenswood, the wedding celebration is abruptly interrupted by
Raimondo, who brings the shocking news that Arturo has been found dead
on the Roor of the bridal chamber. Lucia, clutching his dagger, has lost
her mind. The guests pray for deliverance from the wrath of heaven.
Lucia herself then appears and, imagining she hears Edgardo calling,
tells him she has escaped their enemies and invites him to sit with her
by the fountain. But in her delusion, she sees a phantom rise up between
them and she bids him take refuge with her at the foot of the altar,
where she imagines their wedding is taking place. Believing Lucia is
happy in the arms of her husband, Edgardo longs only for death. Mourners
from Lammermoor arrive and tell him that Lucia is dying, but before he
can reach her, the funeral bell begins tolling. When Raimondo confirms
her death, Edgardo vows to join her in heaven. Before anyone can stop
him, Edgardo plunges his dagger into his heart.
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